NEB documents express concerns

The National Energy Board (NEB) data show the rate of overall pipeline incidents has doubled in Canada since 2000.

The numbers also show a three-fold increase in the nationwide rate of spills and leaks — ranging from small amounts to large — in the past decade.

The NEB, a federal regulator, oversees any pipeline that crosses provincial or international borders, which includes nearly 90 companies that own about 71,000 kilometres of pipelines.

Signs like this one appear on Hacault's property, which has eight different pipelines running under it. (CBC)

Each company overseen by the NEB must report safety issues including the death or serious injury of a worker, fires, explosions, liquid product spills over 1,500 litres and every gas leak.

The agency data obtained by CBC News does not include smaller pipelines monitored by provinces.

Documents recently published by the NEB show officials have expressed some concern over the rising numbers.

"Notwithstanding the safety record of NEB-regulated pipelines, the board has noticed an increased trend in the number and severity of incidents being reported by NEB-regulated companies in recent years," one 2012 report states.

However, an official chalks up the apparent increase to more reporting.

"I don't think that when you look at the numbers in aggregate that we've seen an alarming increase in significant, serious or major incidents over the last little while," said Patrick Smythe, the NEB's business leader for operations.

Industry committed to 'zero incidents'

The association that represents major pipeline companies also attributes the rise in the number of incidents to increased reporting, and says 99.9 per cent of liquid products are transported by pipelines safely.

Brenda Kenny, president of the Canadian Energy Pipelines Association, says there is an industry-wide commitment to “get to zero incidents.”

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“We're driving that out very hard through our risk-based management approach at the industry level that involves a lot of best practices, integrity, management, technology and these indicators,” said Kenny.

“The Canadian pipeline industry is one of the very safest in the world, second to none in terms of actual results."

But Nathan Lemphers, an associate with the Pembina Institute, suggests the increase in incidents may be a sign of aging infrastructure.

"The pipelines that are in the ground are getting older, and in some cases there's more products flowing through them, so you're going to see increasing incidents and increasing defects in those pipelines unless they're properly maintained," he said.

Back in the Swan Lake area, Hacault said even just one incident matters to him.

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